The Prometheus Vengeance: A Gripping Cyberpunk Thriller (The New Prometheus Book 4) - PAPERBACK

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4.01

The transport bumped over an imperfection in the road, shaking the whole vehicle with a brief but jarring judder. The hardened chains that secured Tyler to the transport’s floor jangled with a distinctive metallic sound. For the hundredth time, he tested the cuffs that held his wrists in place, pulling his hands apart with a short, sharp snap. Nothing shifted, nothing moved. He was still held tight in their grasp, much like his feet were.
He sighed, feeling helpless and wronged as the transport banged over another bump. They could be anywhere in the city by now. They’d been travelling for nearly an hour.
He wondered what awaited him at the end of their journey. He’d never been to prison before, so this would be a new one on him. He figured he’d be okay. He could handle himself and there wasn’t much that scared him. But it wasn’t fear that was gnawing at his mind and giving him a headache. It was the loss of freedom and the feeling of betrayal.
Tyler leant back on the bench, squeezing his shoulders between the two guys next to him and pressed his back against the outside wall of the transport.
He knew every prisoner in here and felt sure they would all be feeling the same way. The members of his squad were next to him, looking equally grim and stoic, while members of a couple of others and a pair of agents filled the bench opposite. They were all former employees of Nano Technic’s Neo-London branch that had been fired and turned in to the local authorities.
They had given their lives to that corporation, dedicating themselves to its cause and had killed to protect it from those who would do it harm.
Surely, a little bit of loyalty and gratitude wouldn’t have been too much to ask? But oh, no.
He knew they needed to disband the strike teams they used in the murky world of corporate espionage and defence. He understood that, he could sympathise. This had all been forced upon the corporation by the fallout from the Nano Liberation, which, in and of itself, was a good thing. He liked not being bound to the corporation because of his nano, but it didn’t end there. The Liberation had far-reaching consequences, and the predicament he now found himself in, was one of them.
He didn’t pretend to know the details. In fact, he didn’t much care, but he felt sure that the corporation did not need to turn them in. Wouldn’t a nice redundancy package have been better? Maybe a reference that they could take to one of the other corporations? That would have been costly, though, and if the rumours he’d heard were true, the corporation probably couldn’t afford to do that anyway. It was easier to just get rid of them.
He glanced at the two agents that sat opposite. He’d worked with them many times. They were strong, powerful, dangerous, but looked just as helpless as the rest of them now.
He noticed the expression on Zealotte’s face. She looked calm and serene. She didn’t look too bothered by the predicament they were all in. She was a bit of a badass, though, as most agents were with their corporation sponsored cybernetic augmentations. You did not want to mess with them as they would fuck you up without breaking a sweat. He’d seen them on missions many times, and each time he could only watch in awe as they went to work.
Zealotte was the most senior person in this vehicle, and several of his fellow operators were watching her. They were looking to her for some kind of sign, or for her leadership. But so far, she had remained quiet, saying little.
She sat there, ignoring the metal cuffs around her wrists, looking relaxed and almost content.
He envied that. He couldn’t get his mind to chill out at all. He needed someone to blame, someone to kill, someone to take revenge upon. He guessed he would probably bubble over at the prison and take out his pent-up anger on some unsuspecting inmate later.
He didn’t envy whoever that poor schmuck would be.
A loud, heavy metallic boom sounded from Tyler’s left, somewhere outside the transport. The brakes squealed, and everyone slid towards the front of the vehicle, squashing into each other. The transport stopped, and everyone fell back.
Had it hit something?
“Aaah, shit. What was that?” Tyler asked. Zealotte had a smile on her face.
“That,” she said, “is help.”
A series of rapid-fire bangs slammed into the side of the transport.
Gunfire!
Were they being rescued or attacked? He looked at Zealotte again. She was still smiling, and he dared to hope.
“Everyone stay put,” said one of the two guards who were in here with them. They’d been thrown to the floor by the sudden stop but were back on their feet now.
“Are we under attack?” said the second officer.
The first took his shotgun in both hands and racked the forestock. “Well, they better not come in here.”
Big words.
He wondered if the officer could back them up with action.
Gunfire continued outside. There was shouting and sounds of movement. Every so often, bullets hit the vehicle with deafening bangs.
The officers had backed away from the door, pointing their guns towards it. The sounds of fighting outside faded, and the gunfire stopped.
The tension grew.
Everyone was looking at each other, wondering what was going to happen next.
Were they going to be freed? Were they going to be blown up or shot?
Zealotte seemed set on the idea that this was a rescue, but Tyler wasn’t so sure. He trusted her. She’d led him on missions more times than he could remember. But things had changed, and the rules were shifting. This might not be the rescue that she thought it was.
Zealotte leant forward and awkwardly put her fingers in her ears.
Tyler glanced between her and the door, and quickly did the same. So did most of the others.
Shaped charges detonated on the rear loading door, sending smoke billowing into the compartment as the door fell away.
The two officers started to unload their guns into the smoke. Tyler leant back again. He didn’t fancy getting hit with stray buckshot.
Several seconds later, the smoke began to clear. The two officers frantically reloaded their guns. peering out the door, Tyler saw only the road with parked cars and people looking on against a backdrop of Neo-London’s towers.
Two gunshots rang out. The officers dropped to the floor each with a hole in his head. He watched them fall. He looked up as a shadow fell into the van, and a powerful looking man stepped up into the back.
Tyler recognised his bald, tattooed head and massive cybernetic arms right away. It was Arden, another agent who worked with Zealotte. His face was fierce determination and focus.
A gun folded out of Arden’s arm. He pointed it towards Zealotte and fired, hitting the chain that secured her to the floor of the vehicle. Standing up, she smashed binders against the bench and ripped them off. She did something similar with the ones on her ankles, before turning to the other prisoners.
“You have a choice,” she said, her voice all steel and purpose. “You can stay here, go to prison, and live in that hell hole for the rest of your life because you did your job. Or, you can come with me. You can take that anger and do something constructive with it. I choose to fight. I choose to stand against the tyranny that put us in this transport and sent us to prison.” As she spoke, Arden freed the other agent, Destine. She stood up next to Zealotte and looked over everyone as she rubbed her wrists.
“But make your choice now,” Zealotte said.
Tyler didn’t need to think. His anger burnt deep, and he needed to fight. “I’m with you,” he said.
Zealotte smiled.
Another man repeated Tyler's words. “I’m with you, too.”
“And me.”
“Me, too.”
Within moments, everyone had pledged their loyalty to Zealotte and her cause. Another minute later, they were free and climbing out of the van. There were more operators outside, creating a perimeter around the vehicle.
They were still in the city, surrounded by towers, walkways and roads above and below.
In front of the transport, Tyler saw a truck sitting across the road, blocking traffic. Wondering where it had come from, Tyler looked up and saw smoke at the edge of a road above them.
They’ve driven it off there? They got points for audacity if nothing else.
He heard the faint noise of approaching flyers and the sirens of police vehicles.
The authorities were on their way.
“We’re leaving,” Zealotte shouted to the crowd who followed her off the side of the elevated highway and down a short access stairwell. Tyler noticed that his squad stood with him. They were looking to him, wondering if they should follow Zealotte’s orders.
“Let’s go,” Tyler said and moved with the crowd.
They were fugitives now, on the run with a charismatic leader who he hoped had a plan.